Steam-feed cylinder.



PATBNTED MAY 3'1, 1904.

- B. E. THOMAS.

STEAM FEED CYLINDER.

APPLICATION FILED DEO. 19, 1901.

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' No. 761,339. A -EATENTED MAY ys1, 190A.- Y E. E. THOMAS. STEAM EEED CYLINDER.

APPLICATION FILED DEO. 19, 1901.

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No. l761,339.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

Patented May 31, 1904i EDWIN E. THOMAS, OF ST.` PAUL, .MINNESOTA, ASSIGNOR TO PUGET ySOUND DRY DOCK & MACHINE COMPANY, OF TACOMA, WASHING- TON A CORPORATION OF WASHINGTON..

STEAM-FEED CYLINDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 761,339, dated May 31, "1904.

' Applicatior led December 19, 1901. Serial No. 86,524. (No model.) i

To alll whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, EDWIN E. THOMAS, of St. Paul, Ramsey county, Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Steam-Feed Cylinders for Sawmill-'Car- ,riages, of which the following is a specication.

The steam-feed cylinders, of sawmill-carriages correspond substantially in length to the distance the carriage travels and frequently extend from sixty to eighty feet parallel with the direction of movement thereof. The rod connecting the vpiston to the lcarriage must be -of greater length even'than the cylinder, and

- from the following detailed description.

- The invention consists generally in a steamfeed-cylinder piston-rod provided with an automatically-adjustable support within the cylinder.

Further, the invention consists in means for causing said head to follow the' piston in one direction at a certain predetermined d istance therefrom and for limiting its travel -or movement in the other direction.

Further, the invention consistsin means for vsecuring the piston-rod tothe carriage.

Further, the invention consists in various constructions and combinations,y all as hereinafter described, and particularly pointed out in the claims. v

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Figure l is a longitudinal section-of the steam-feed cylinder with my invention applied th ereto,showing the piston at one end of the cylinder. 4Fig. 2 -is a Similar View showing the piston at the free end of the cylinder. Fig. Sis a detail of the right-hand end of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a section ony the line a; of Figf. Fig. 5 is asection on the line y g/ of Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is a section on the line z z of Fig. 3.

In the drawings, 2 represents a steam-feed cylinder,which may be of suitable length, according to the desired travel of the carriage.

3 and 4 are steam-pipes through which steam is alternately admitted and exhausted from swing on the pivot 11 and automatically. ad'- just itself to the different positions of the carriage. Within the cylinder I provide a disk or head 14, having a series of holes or openings 15 and secured upon a tube 16, that is concentric with the piston-rod and I incloses the same. 'A bearing 17 is provided between the'inner end ofthe tube 16 and the rod, and at the outer end of said tube is a block 18, having a bearing 19 near 'one end for said rod and a suitable packing-box 20 at its free end that is'flush with the end of said block. The block 18, with the head' 14 and the tube connecting them, slides'freely on the opposite rod as the samefis reciprocated within the cylinv der. The cylinder-head 21 is provided with an extension 22, having a bearing '23 for the tube 16, and I also prefer to provide adjustable semicircular bearing-plates 24 at the outer end of the extension 22, said plates beling normally held in position by set-screws 25. a By loosening these screws the bearingplates may be moved around the tube 16 to present-new bearing-surfaces thereto and being made in sections can be .readily removed for the purpose of repair or removal. Upon thel piston-rod ynear its connection to the casting 9 I provide a coil-spring-26 anda sliding disk 27, that is connected to lugs 28 on said casting by sliding bolts 29. This disk is adaptecl to engage the end of the block 18 when the carriage reach es a certain predetermined point in its movement toward the cylinder, and I have preferred to eountersink the packingboX in the end of said box, so that it will not beA injured by the impact of said disk. A spring 30 is arranged on the piston-rod near the piston, and a similar spring 31 is provided on the tube 16 between the disk 14 and the head 21. y

As shown in Fig. 1, I have made the tube 16 of sufiicient length so that the disk or head 14 will follow the piston at a distance therefrom substantially equal to one-half the length of the cylinder; but this distance may of course be varied, according to the length of the cylinder and the strain to which the piston-rod is subjected, the object being-to provide a support for the rod sufiiciently near the piston to prevent all danger of buckling or sagging of the rod in either direction during its reciprocation.

'lhe operation of my invention is as follows: Assuming the piston to be in the position shown in Fig. 1, steam is admitted to the cylinder, and the piston moving toward the right end of the cylinder will engage the sliding head and drive the same forward until it reaches the position shown in Fig. 2, the shock of the piston striking the sliding head and of the head engaging the end of the cylinder being taken up by the springs 30 and 31. During this movement of the sliding head or disk the tube 16 and the block 18, extending out beyond the end of the cylinder, will support and brace the rod and prevent any tendency to buckle or sag. As soon as steam is admitted. to the free end of the cylinder the piston will start back, while the sliding head will remain stationary until the block 18 is struck by the disk 27, when the sliding support will follow the piston until the'carriage reaches the limit of its travel, and on the return stroke of the piston the previous operation is repeated. In this Way an automatically-adjustable support is provided for the piston-rod during its reciprocation, and this support in no Way interferes with the operation of the piston or carriage and will almost entirely obviate the danger of breaking, buckling, or sagging of the rod. The sliding disk or head having on one side an area exposed to the steam that is greater by the end of the area 16 than its opposite side will remain normally in the right-hand end of the cylinder in position to be driven forward toward the piston when engaged by the log-carriage.

I do not wish to be confined to the particular bearing means shown or the manner of operating the sliding support from the carriage, as the same is capable of considerable modification, the essential feature of the invention being the sliding support within the cylinder that is adapted to automatically adjust itself with respect to the position of the piston.

I claim as my invention- 1. A horizontal steam-feed-cylinder pistonrod provided with an automatically-:uljustable support operable lengthwise thereof within the cylinder.

2. A horizontal steam-feed-cylinder pistonrod provided with a slidable head adapted to support said rod to follow the piston a certain predetermined distance therefrom and to precede the piston in the opposite direction.

3. A steam-feed-cylinder piston-rod provided with a perforate disk sliding] y arranged on said rod and adapted to follow the piston in one direction a certain predetermined distance therefrom and to precede the piston in the opposite direction.

4. A steam-feed-cylinder piston rod provided with a movable support within the cylinder, and means operated by the carriage to cause said support to follow the piston at a certain predetermined distance therefrom, whereby sagging and buckling of the rod will be prevented.

5. A steam-feed -cylinder pistonrod provided with a movable support within the cylinder, and means operated in one direction by the carriage to cause said support to follow the piston at a certain predetermined distance therefrom and said support being driven by the piston in the opposite direction, whereby sagging and buckling of the rod will be prevented.

6. The combination, with a horizontal cngine having its piston-rod connected with a carriage, of an automatieally-adjustable support for said rod operable lengthwise thereof within the engine-cylinder.

7. The combination, with a steam-feed -cylinder piston having its rod connected with the log-carriage, of a perforate head or disk slidably arranged on said rod, and means operated by the carriage for causing said head to follow said piston a certain predetermined distance therefrom.

8. The combination,with a steem-feed-cylinder and piston having its rod connected with a log-carriage, of a sliding support for said rod provided within said cylinder, a tube connected with said support and projecting through said cylinder-head in position to be actuated by said carriage, for the purpose specified.

9. The combination, with a steam-feed cylinder and piston having its rod connected with the carriage, of a sliding head provided on said rod within said cylinder, atube connected with said head and projecting through one head of said cylinder, and a block having a packing-box provided on the end of said tube and adapted to be actuated by the movement of said carriage to slide said head on said rod.

10. The combination, with a steam feed cylinder and piston having its rod connected IOO with a carriage, of a sliding perforate head provided on said rod within said cylinder, a sliding block having a packing-box and provided on said rod outside of said cylinder, a tube inclosingl said rod and connecting said block and head, and springs provided between said sliding head and said piston and the cylinder-head. v

11. The combination, with a steam-feed cylinder and piston having its rod connected with a carriage, of a sliding support for said rod provided within said cylinder, a tube,

connected with said support and projecting through said cylinder-head and inclosing said rod, and a rotatable adjustable bearing for said tube provided within said head.

12. `The combination,withacylinder 21 and the extension 22, of a tube 16 adapted to slide within said extension and' the semicir'cular bearing-plates 24 inclosing said tube and the set-screws 25.

13. The combination, with a steam-feed cylinder and piston having its rod connnected with a carriage, of a supportslidably arranged upon said rodwithin the cylinder, and means extending through the cylinder-head into the path of saidcarriage, whereby when said car riage is moving toward the cylinder said support willvbe actuated to follow said piston at a certain predetermined distance therefrom.

14. The combination, with a steam feed cylinder and piston having its rod connected with the carriage, of asliding perforate head provided within said piston on said rod, and

means projecting through the cylinder-head into the path of the carriage moving toward said cylinder, whereby said head will be actuated to follow said piston, and said means projecting a sufficient distance beyond the head of said cylinder to cause said sliding head to follow said piston at a distance therefrom approximately equal to half the length of said cylinder.

15; The combination, with a'steam-feed cylinder and piston having its rod connected with the carriage, of a sliding support provided on said 'rod within said cylinder, asliding block having a stuiiing-box and a long bearing-surface for said rod outside of said cylinder and in the path of said carriage to be actuated thereby, and meansconnecting said block with saidsupport through said cylinderhead, whereby when said block -is actuated said support will be moved along said rod to follow said piston.

16. A horizontal steam-feed-cylinder pistonrod provided with an adjustable support within the cylinder inclosing and bracing said rod against bending or buckling either laterally or vertically and means for operating said support vto follow said piston.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 16th day of December, 1901.

EDWIN E. THOMAS.

In presence of- RICHARD PAUL, M. C. NooNAN. 

